New Zeal & Ardor today (I think; the album has not become fully available on Apple Music yet):
Playlist from 6/7:
Underworld - Pearl's Girl Single
Underworld - 1992 to 2002, disc two
David Bowie - Black Star
Venue - Desireena E.P.
Algiers - The Underside of Power
Card of the day:
Ahh, my absolute favorite card in the deck. This always connects me to a higher ideal, separates out the micro from the macro. And I definitely think I needed that this morning!
My good friend Ray sent me an Apple Music link to this album quite some time ago and I only just now got around to working it in for listen - when I'm writing everyday as I have been, spending so much time dialed into a particular frame of mind, I curate everything I listen to pretty rigorously. Thus, trying something new - especially if it's something I'll love - might totally skew my routine. I tried two new things yesterday - Dessa's Badly Broken Code, which is fantastic but completely out of my element at the moment, and Nabihah Iqbal's Weighing of the Heart. The latter instantly bewitched me, and it fits right in where I need it to, so it's been on heavy, heavy rotation all day and will most likely stay there for some time. Above is my favorite track, thus far.
New Drinking, Fighting, F*&king, and Crying is up HERE.
Playlist from Odin's Day, 6/07/18:
Pigface - A New High in Low
oOoOO & Islamic Grrls - Faminine Mystique
White Ring & oOoOO - Roses/Seaww - Emotion Single
Dessa - A Badly Broken Code
Nabihah Iqbal - Weighing of the Heart
Zombi - Shape Shift
Ghost - Prequelle
Card of the day:
Take the high ground for perspective. That might come in handy during the 4 hour meeting I have today at work.
I have long loved My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, up to and including their masterpiece, Confessions of a Knife. After that... not so much. I've tried since high school to get into 13 Above the Night and never really cared for it. Likewise, I will periodically check in on one of the later records, usually to no effect. The other night though, I pulled 13 out after not hearing it for years and gave it a whirl and actually kind of dug a lot of it. It's no Confessions; doesn't hold a candle to any of their older stuff at all. But, I think I'm finally starting to hear what those who have recommended it to me for years hear... or I'm getting soft in my old age. Either way, a few more truncated listens and I grabbed Death Threat from Apple Music yesterday morning and listened to it twice in a row. Again, not the same vibe as the old stuff, but it fit my mood at the time, and it didn't seem so terribly far off from the Thrill Kill Kult that I love, all Satan and Sex and Drugs and SATAN!!!
Foxxxy Rockit is probably my favorite track so far, hence it leading off the post this morning.
Playlist from 6/05:
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - 13 Above the Night
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Death Threat*
Venue - Desireena E.P.
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird-suite
Crystal Castles -
HIDE - Castration Anxiety
Christopher Young - Hellraiser OST
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
Preoccupations - New Material
No card today.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
The Bonus track from Prequelle. I didn't love this record the first time I spun it, now it's seriously grown on me. The throw was that Ghost has moved from a guitar-hook laden outfit to concentrating on vocal melodies. Also, bringing in the piano for basic song structure and composition. After Bible, the final track on 2016's Popestar E.P., I began to speculate that Ghost is working toward composing and presenting a Broadway musical. I am even more convinced of that now. As far as "It's a Sin," I've always dug Ghost's choice of covers, and this is no different. Fits perfect.
Playlist from 6/04:
Massive Attack - Protection
Ghost - Prequelle
Mastodon - Remission
The Soft Moon - Zeroes
The Smiths - Meat is Murder
Electric Citizen - Sateen
Viet Cong - Eponymous
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - 13 Above the Night
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, we have a shining future
Underworld - Barking
Burzum - Filosfem
Card for the day:
Wands can be seen as the creative spark, the Will of the Magus, the Living Spark or Essence. It's Will is tantamount, and you cannot hold it back. This sentiment perfectly describes my recent 'Oppression' at my own hands. I've a creative spark with this project I'm working on, bearing down on a deadline, but I've begun to feel restrained by it. I need to shirk that by taking some extra writing time and outlining this short story in my head, instead of oppressing that spark by blinding trudging along on T12, which I'll still work on daily, but perhaps just rope it back a bit; enough to sneak in some time on this new spark.
... and I'll be damned, it won't replace the original, but it looks like it could be a really good film on its own. I dig that they seemingly went out of their way to make it look and feel old school 70s Euro horror, or at least that's what I'm getting from this trailer. Reading the description, sounds like the plot got a tweak too, so that could further help make this new one its own thing. While I'm typically not in favor of remakes, a few great ones have come along that stand on their own. I'd say take for example Evil Dead 2013, but then we all know that's not a remake but, "another door the Necronomicon can open." Maybe there's some similar thread here.
Tom Yorke's score sounds great - I was kind of expecting noodley electro, I'm glad to see I've underestimated him.
Playlist from June 3rd:
Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em (single)
Fen - Epoch
Ghost - Prequelle
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Card of the day:
Relying on my back-up deck today, as I left the house in too much of a hurry to pull from my beloved Thoth. Queen of Cups - more emotion than you can shake a stick at. Doesn't feel that way thus far. We'll see.
This song is brand new, yet it remind me SO much of the music from about ten years ago. There's a Bibio vibe, with a little Alice Walker and something else I can't quite put my finger on. The spacey tone really evokes a certain period in my personal history, and I find that really amazing, that either Vinyl Williams, or myself, or both of us already have a fledgling nostalgia for 2007. Weird. But any way you cut it, I love it.
Playlist from 6/02:
Otis Redding - Tell the Truth
Corniglia - Eponymous
Andre Previn - Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op. 11
Various - Barber: Adagio, Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto
Ghost - Prequelle
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future
Vinyl Williams - Lansing (single)
Armando Perazza & Cal Tjader Quintet - Nica's Dream
Card of the day:
From the Grimoire: "Primordial urges underlying existence. The Lunar Pull on seemingly unconnected processes."
I woke up late in the morning and spent a few hours trying to finish off Lords of Chaos; the book has become increasingly unpleasant (not the writing, but the subject matter) and the authors track Black Metal-related atrocities across the globe. It feels as though I'm reading a true crime book, and that's not a genre I dabble in because, frankly, I become too disturbed. At any rate, I may not finish the book, but if I do, I decided I need something to counter balance the negativity. The above musical suite is helping, as is the source of my discovery of it. Years ago David Lynch wrote a book called Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. I bought it and was able to shake his hand and have him autograph it - one of those rare autograph opportunities I took advantage of - but never really read it. I'm doing so now, and it's magical. I love this man so much, he has been such a positive, life-affirming influence on me in every way. Reading the book and listening to Andre Previn and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's version of Weber's Adagio for Strings - which Lynch name drops in the book when briefly talking about The Elephant Man as an example of marrying music to picture - is almost too much beauty to reflect on, and it has definitely salvaged my mood after reading about misguided miscreants committing horrendous crimes in the name of non-existent deities.
The Fiery aspect of Air. I need to get my arse in gear and express my Will today, because thus far, other than this meager post, all I've done is consume.
This will turn your morning into a foggy mystery. Trust me. Some mornings are better that way.
I was tagged to do this week's edition of The Joup Friday Album - let me tell you about PIL's 1978 debut record Public Image: First Issue while the soothing vocal stylings of John Lydon coronate your weekend HERE.
Playlist from 5/31/18:
Corniglia - Eponymous
Cocksure - T.V.M.A.L.S.V.
The Soft Moon - Criminal
The Soft Moon - Zeroes
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
And I drove home from work yesterday afternoon listening to Michael Stock's Part time Punks radio show, where I was introduced to a couple awesome groups, notably:
Temple of Angels - Lex Talionis
Otzi - Sunbeam
FACS - Silencing
BC35 & Bob Bert & Martin Bisi & Skeleton Boy & Alyse Lamb & Stu-Art Gray - Nowhere Near the Rainbow (embedded above)
On the way to work this morning, I put on Loyola Marymount's KXLU and heard Corniglia for the first time. This was exactly what I needed today. A gray morning, woke up late, desperately in need of more sleep than I've been getting - this just hit the spot. You can buy stuff at Corniglia's bandcamp
and they are also on Apple Music!
New Drinking, Fighting, F*&king, and Crying went up this morning, read it HERE.
Playlist from 5/30:
Opeth - Orchid
Opeth - Morningrise
Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers and Queers
Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Card of the day:
This tells me I should eschew the after-work nap and write instead. I'm exhausted, but I am on an incredible roll! I re-outlined the project on Monday - which took pretty much all day - and now it's just a matter of realigning what I've already written and then ticking off the boxes. Feels good.
I do eat meat, but I usually feel 50% guilty about that. Still love this track, though.
Re-watched The Void last night. This is about my fourth viewing. I love this movie. In fact, I think it's probably the best horror movie - or at least my personal favorite - of the last twenty years.
Playlist from yesterday:
The Veils - Total Depravity
Budapest Festival Orchestra - Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird Suite
Eagulls - Ullages
Godflesh - Post Self
Grinderman - Eponymous
High on Fire - Snakes of the Divine
Bloodbath - Breeding Death
Bells into Machines - Your Crime Scene E.P.
Zombi - Spirit Animal
Sunn O))) - The Grimm Robe Demos
Underworld/Iggy Pop - Bells & Circles single
Underworld - Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future
Card of the day:
I'm choosing a straight interpretation of this one. Let's see what happens.
"I put down my tray table, and snorted a gram of cocaine, until I got up my courage to say, 'Can I have your phone number?' And she gave me the phone number, that was the good news! But the bad news was, I got too stoned and I lost the number! The stewardess would have been better than the cocaine - I made an error in judgement!"
Iggy seems to be channeling Hunter S. Thompson here. And that is fucking awesome!
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# ∞
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
Sir Georg Solti - Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Das Rheingold)
Bloodbath - Breeding Death
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Burzum - Filosfem
Been leaning heavily on Cocksure lately. Such a great band. I've also been the most scatter brained I've ever been as I continue to try and drastically up my output on the T12 project. Yesterday was a total fail, today will NOT be.
I watched The Interior last night on Shudder. I absolutely LOVED this movie and will tell you nothing about it, not even post a trailer, while at the same time adamantly suggesting you check it out. Not for everyone, but those who dig it will really dig it.
Playlist from yesterday:
Burzum - Filosfem
Ben Frost - By the Throat
Cocksure - T.V.M.A.L.S.V.
Alkaline Trio - Crimson
Deftones - Gore
Card for the day:
My favorite in the Sword suit. From the Grimoire: "Indicates greater objectivity/clarity. Healthy balance of emotions and intellect. Good time to make decisions."
Interesting then that I'm drafting an ad campaign for my book and having to make decisions, was actually just questioning my decision making seconds before pulling this card.
I'm very late to Alkaline Trio. My friend Chris introduced me to their music a few weeks back and I'm surprised at how much I like it. At the time Crimson was released, I would not have been able to overcome my prejudices against anything that carried an air of slickly produced 'punk rock'. Now, I recognize this for what it is - good, fast rock with no agenda, politics or accoutrements. I'm loving this record - it's been a great sonic tool for writing.
Playlist from 5/25:
Danzig - Circle of Snakes*
Barry Adamson - Stranger on the Sofa
Chromatics - Cherry
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports
Lebanon Hanover - Let Them Be Alien
David Bowie - Low
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Alkaline Trio - Crimson
Crystal Castles - Amnesty (I)
Cocksure - T.V.M.A.L.S.V.
I wrote just over 3K words yesterday, after a full day's work. Not too shabby. Today shooting for 4K.
I subscribed to Shudder recently, and have been digging the app's selection. Checking off a lot of longstanding,"I need to see that" boxes. Last night it was Adam Green's Digging Up the Marrow and Until the Light Takes Us. The night before was a new movie, Sequence Break. This is Grahamn Skipper's directorial debut; it premiered in LA last fall at BeyondFest and I had really wanted to go, but that didn't work out. Reminiscent of Beyond the Gates and eXistenZ, Sequence Break was a great watch, even if it was a little bit awkward at times (mainly just one character, the enigmatic man, was a bit off, a kind of contrived Deus Ex Machina that revealed the lines of the writing almost every time he appeared to catalyze events - there was a better way to do what he did). Still, I enjoyed Skipper's first film and look forward to his next. Definitely a fun watch with great visuals and some awesome Body-Horror elements, a la Cronenberg's mid-period stuff.
Card of the day:
The perfect Mother. Hmmm... perfectly fits what I'm writing, I'll leave it at that. Also, it ties directly into Mr. Danzig, doesn't it? Weird, since the bit below this with the asterisk is something I wrote yesterday in the morning, after listening to Circle of Snakes on the way to work.
* Other than albums 1-3 and 7, my relationship of Danzig's records runs the gamut from begrudging to tentative. I'd not listened to this one in some time, and as much as I still enjoy 1000 Devils Rain and Skull Forrest, the production on this one is so fucking bad it actually makes me angry. I'm pretty sure in the case of opening track Wotan's Procession, the subpar guitar sound is a nod to the Black Metal of Norway, which I remember from seeing Danzig live for this album, was heavily reflected by his "Blackest of the Black' Tour lineup. But the rest of the record? No excuse, can't even hear parts of the chorus vocals on several songs, including the aforementioned Skull Forrest. Yo Glenn, hire a fucking producer, eh? Also, is Forrest purposely misspelled?
I shut the door pretty hard on Twin Peaks last year when it ended. Nothing against it, but when I stop to consider how much time and energy it consumed from me, it makes perfect sense that I would have needed to distance myself (I remember saying I was going to rewatch it like a month later - ha!). I've really only began to even think about it again recently. One insight these new considerations have revealed is the idea that I'm slightly unsure and maybe even a little bit nervous as to how the new series may have affected my relationship with the original - when I deep dive, I'm not really finding that first run occupying the same place in my head. Maybe this is just an integration period - the new series fractured the old and how I relate to it, now I have to rebuild? Probably thinking about this too much (probably = definitely). I spent the last two days getting increasingly jazzed on the music from the new series again, and that's very much making me want to rewatch it. I've got a three-day weekend ahead of me, however I also have a backlog of flicks to watch and roughly 53K words to write in the next 35 days, so I'm thinking that probably won't happen. I will, however, continue to enjoy the music, like the link above. I know it's not the actual Lynch remix that appears on the Score for season three, but honestly I like this one better. It's a part of the Twin Peaks playlist I made early on during Season 3, adding to as I went along and peppering in some BlueBob and a few tracks from the Twin Peaks musical archive that was released through David Lynch.com a few years back.
Playlist from yesterday:
Dosh - Pure Trash
Twin Peaks Playlist
Twin Peaks Season 3 OST
Chromatics - Night Drive
Burzum - Filosfem
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Trilogy
Card of the day:
Emotionally charged but creative juices flowing? Luckily, I'm actually well-rested and think I can handle this today. I want to try and write at least 15K words over the next three days, so we'll see.
